Sanitary napkin



July 13, 1954 E. M. CUNNINGHAM SANITARY NAPKIN Filed July 29, 1952 INVENTOR.

Patented July 13, 1-954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful sanitary napkin and has for one of its objects to prowhereby the padlet may be replaced by a fresh one at any convenient selected time.

Another object of the invention is to produce a sanitary napkin consisting of a larger primary or supporting pad of appropriate absorbent material provided with means for attachment to a garment, such as a belt, and an appreciably relatively shorter secondary padlet seated on the primary pad for disposition in line with the female orifice.

Another object of this invention is to produce a anitary napkin including a secondary padlet of small size which is less expensive than the ordinary present day napkin whereby the employment of the padlet results in a considerable saving in material and consequently a saving in money to the user.

Another object of the present invention is to produce a sanitary napkin comprising a primary or main pad having a supporting function which primary or main pad is to be used for a relatively long time, in combination with a secondary or flow receiving padlet for use for relatively shorter times and more readily temporarily stored in a pocket, purse or the like prior to useand more easily disposed of after being soiled because of its small and compact nature, than the usual large sized and bulky one piece article.

Articles of this character, generally, include an absorbent cellulose which is an essential war and defense material and by constructing the padlet of small size a considerable saving of the essential material is effected. Therefore another object of the invention is to produce sanitary napkins which ultimately require a minimum amount of valuable and, sometimes, highly essential and often scarce material in the manufacture and use thereof. a

A further object of this invention is to produce a sanitary napkin consisting of a primary or main pad including an absorbent material enclosed in a gauze or: porous fabric covering having loose attaching ends for securement to a supporter, such as a belt or article of wearing apparel, and a padlet removably and loosely partially embedded in the primary pad and said padlet also including an absorbent material enclosed in a gauze or porous fabric covering.

A still further object of the invention is to produce a sanitary napkin consisting of a primary or main pad member and a secondary or flow receiving padlet member, said primary pad being so fashioned as to provide a depression, recess or pocket in its obverse face to temporarily and removably hold the padlet without fastening devices of any kind, the members being primarily retained against relative sidewise movement by the uneven surface formations of the covers.

With the above and other objects in View this invention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same I will describe its construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sanitary napkin illustrating an embodiment of my invention, portions of the free ends of the cover of the primary, main or supporting pad being cut away.

Fig. 2 is an exploded edge elevation thereof on a reduced scale.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the primary pad by itself.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the secondary or flow receiving padlet removed from the primary pad.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary face view of any part of the napkin to show the openwork character of the gauze or porous fabric covers.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the padlet which is a separate unit.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied Ii! represents the sanitary napkin as a whole, Fig. 1, comprised'of a primary or supporting pad member ll and a cooperating secondary or flow receiving padlet i2. I

The primary pad l I includes a core or filler ht of suitable absorbent material, such as cellulose in proper form, cotton for example, enclosed in a cover 15 of gauze or other appropriate porous fabric wrapped about said filler. of general oblong formation and the cover is of sufficient size to project an appreciable distance beyond the ends of said filler to provide loose or free pliable attaching ends it for securement to an article of wearing apparel, such as a belt or supporter as is customary.

The secondary or fiow receiving padlet member l2 also includes a core or filler ll, Fig. 4, of a suitable absorbent material such as cotton, the same as referred to in connection with the de scription of the primary pad member. This padlet This filler is 3 filler is considerably shorter than the primary pad and also is enclosed in a cover 18 of gauze or other appropriate porous fabric wrapped closely around said filler in such a manner that no ends or edges extend beyond the boundaries of the padlet structure.

The covers of both the primary pad member and the secondary padlet member being of the same gauze or porous fabric, Fig. 5, present uneven exposed surfaces whereby when the padlet member is placed on the primary pad member a certain surface cohesion results which primarily retains the former in position on the latter with suflicient tenacity to permit of application and adjustment of the article to the wearers body which, subsequently, will hold the members in proper position. This eliminates the requirement for fastening devices or" any kind for holding the members together and permits quick and easy removal of a padlet and the replacement by a fresh and unused one.

While I have particularly referred to cotton as the absorbent filler for the primary pad and the padlet it will be obvious that some equivalent absorbent material may be substituted. is especially true in connection with the padlet where the filler may consist of a large tissue or a number of smaller ones appropriately folded and enclosed in a cover.

Preferably, a transverse slot, depression, recess or pocket I9 is formed in the obverse face of the primary pad member, substantially midway the ends thereof, particularly midway the ends of the filler portion of said primary pad member. This depression, recess or pocket is substantially the same length as the padlet, which it is to receive and temporarily hold, and therefore opposed end shoulders 20 are formed which assist in holding said padlet in place. Said padlet is practically the same width as the primary pad and therefore the recess is open at the sides as well as at the top. The padlet is positively held against endwise movement by the shoulders 26 and under ordinary conditions is retained against lateral movements by cohesion between the uneven and fibrous surfaces of the primary pad member and the secondary padlet member.

In practice, a number of the padlets may be easily stored and carried in a coat pocket, purse or handbag and when soiled or saturated the one in use can be disposed of and replaced by a clean fresh one and each newly applied padlet gives a feeling of freshness, cleanliness and original comfort without renewing the primary pad which is much larger and too bulky to carry a number of them for emergencies although said primary pad can be utilized by itself in case of necessity because the recess therein does not interfere with its use. The device is particularly advantageous because it does notrequire unfastening a large sized complete sanitary napkin after being soiled and the subsequent pinning or otherwise fastening a new one in place. The change of a padlet can be readily accomplished in a few seconds taken from work, play, on date, party or visit.

This

This sanitary napkin is less expensive to use than the ordinary full sized sanitary napkins of today and especially so for hospital use where it results in a considerable saving of time and actually is more sanitary because of the possibility of more frequent changes. In addition the present device saves considerable time and money and is an indispensable convenience when abnormal conditions exist. Also this device is an essential material saving item for war time economy.

If course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and useful is:

1. A sanitary napkin comprising a disposable primary pad member of absorbent material having attaching ends and provided with a recess open at opposite sides and the top and located substantially midway between said attaching ends, and a disposable secondary padlet member of absorbent material temporarily and removably fitted in said recess.

2. A sanitary napkin comprising a disposable absorptive primary pad member including a pad element of absorbent material and a cover oi gauze-like porous fabric wrapped around said pad element and extending beyond both ends of the pad element to provide loose attaching ends for connection to a support, said primary pad member having a recess in its obverse face open at opposite sides and the top and positioned midway between the locations of the ends of said pad element, and a disposable absorptive padlet member considerably shorter than the pad element of the primary pad member and temporarily removably received in said recess.

3. A sanitary napkin comprising a disposable absorptive primary pad member including an appreciably long pad element of absorbent material, a cover of gauze-like porous fabric wrapped around said pad element and extending beyond both ends of the pad element to provide loose attaching ends for connection to a support, said primary pad member having a relatively short recess in its obverse face midway between the locations of the ends of said pad element, shoulders provided at the ends of said recess which is open at the sides as well as the top, and a disposable absorptive padlet member of a size to temporarily rest in said recess and engaging the shoulders with the side edges of said padlet member substantially coinciding with the side edges of the primary pad member in the region of the recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS France Dec. 9, 1922 

